Huntree Nursery Newsletter May 2025

May 20, 2025 1:07 pm Published by

Happy May Day!

What happened to the ‘April Showers’????    Our first words of wisdom are WATER, WATER, WATER.    It’s DRY.    If you have planted anything this spring get out the hose and soak it well at least twice a week.   Keep those roots moist and your plants will reward you.

All you organic gardeners need to come check out our new product, locally produced Worm Castings from J. Woods.   They are odor free, a natural pesticide and fungicide, increases soil water retention, improves soil structure.  Mix it in around your veggie plants.   I added a teaspoon to my house plants once a month this winter and could tell the difference!

This is the perfect time to plant a tree or shrub!   And we have plenty of both to choose from.

We can help you select just the right one.   Improve the environment in your yard by planting food for the birds and bees.  Here are 4 of my favorites:

  • Serviceberry – In June the Robins and Cedar Waxwings will love you for it.
  • Linden – a lovely tree that blooms in mid summer. The bees go gaga over it!
  • Mountain Ash ‘Cardinal Red’ – Bright red berry clusters ripening in the fall
  • Flowering Crabapples – Great food source for birds in the fall and winter.  Our new varieties are not messy!  If the birds don’t eat them, they shrivel up and disappear.  I promise.

Looking for a narrow, upright tree?  Here are some new suggestions that you haven’t seen before:

Magnolia Genie – 5 ft. wide and 12 ft. tall

Japanese Maple Twombly’s Red Sentinel – 5 ft. wide and 12 ft. high

Crabapple Ivory Spear –   7 ft. wide   and 18 ft. high

Crabapple Raspberry Spear – 8 ft wide and 20 ft. high

Privet ‘Straight Talk’ –  2-3’ wide and 12 ft. high

NOW is the time to treat for the following pests:

Viburnum Leaf Beetle

Boxwood Leaf Miner

Wooly Adelgid on Hemlock

Use the soil drench Bonide Annual Tree and Shrub Insect Control to provide protection

for the whole year.   Apply it as soon as possible to get it into the system of the plant.

Getting itchy to get your tomato and pepper plants in the ground?    DON’T DO IT!   Hold off for at least 2 weeks, preferably 3.   You just can’t get a head start.  They will just get stunted when the temperature drops, the wind is blowing and the soil is cold.   If you are wearing a jacket it’s not time yet.

We will have annuals in the greenhouse May 7th for Mother’s Day.

We will be getting our herbs and quart sized perennials in the week of May 12th.

It’s time to fertilize your lawn, and put on weed killer.

If you need to kill grubs, come get some All Season Grub Control.

Do you have moss in your shady lawn?  Apply lime now to raise the pH to make the soil inhospitable to moss.

Reseed with Jonathon Green Dense Shade Mix.  It was bred to take more shade than typical grass seed.

I’m not going to whine about the deer but just say that we now have Ever Guard deer spray which the Saugatuck/Douglas Garden Club ladies are raving about.

Be on the lookout for GARLIC MUSTARD.  That nasty weed will take over your yard if not the universe if we let it.   Pluck it out (they pull out easily) and put it in a plastic bag to deposit in the trash.  Don’t compost it or just leave it lay on the ground because seeds will still develop.   Look for little clustered flowers on top of heart-ish shaped leaves.

Once again, I just have to say this:   Please do not pile bark mulch up around the trunk of your trees.  It is very unhealthy for them.  Pull the mulch back away from the bark.   That’s a mulch volcano and it is a no-no.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Gardeners’ Swap.  It was a week of surprises.  We never knew what would appear on the back table.  It’s fun swapping stuff!

We wish you a great spring season and look forward to seeing your cheery faces!

Jan and the Huntree Gang

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